3/20

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2x5 or 6. Left knee felt a little tight on some reps.
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1
655x1 - pretty easy. Knee felt great afterwards.

GHR
20
vs two green bands x 15

3/22

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3x5

standing 1 arm cable rows
120x20
140x15
160x12
180x10
200x12

face pulls
130x20

rope pushdowns
100x20 - left elbow started to hurt a little
50x30

3/23

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x2x2

bands
405 + wide purple Rogue bands x 3 - harder than I expected
405 + purple + green bands x 1 - this was max effort to lock out. I guess I should have started easier. Oh well.

GHR
20
vs black band x 15 x 2


edit: no wonder the bands were hard. According to Rogue, the purples have 140 lbs of tension each. The greens are 65 each. If that's accurate, the triple was ~685 at the top and the single was ~815 at the top.

3/25

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
345x1

size 54 Rage X
3 board press
495x1

size 52 Rage X
2 board press
545x2

air boards
455x3
475x3
495x2
I was getting down to about one board off my chest. I kind of like these. Thanks for the suggestion, cookie.

TRX rows
15
15
16 (failure)

face pulls
77.5x15
72.5x15

I tried some rope pushdowns, but my left elbow told me to **** off, so I stopped.

NP, looking forward to PRs!

3/27

squat

155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
605x1 - good
665x1 - forward, slow
665x1 - good, fast

briefs
425x2
475x2

GHR
20
vs black band x 15

3/29

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3x2 - left pec was tight on these last two sets. It sort of felt like how it felt before it tore a few years ago. I stopped benching.

push ups
15 x 6

1 arm cable rows
160x15
180x12
200x12

face pulls
130x20x2

machine rows
360x15x2

rope overhead tricep extensions
30 reps


I did IASTM on the pec. It felt like there was gravel in there. I think it helped quite a bit.

3/30

DL
225x5x2
315x3
405x2

suit
505x1
600x2x2

tbdl
530x3
620x3
670x2

4/1

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1
no pec issues. I figured since I was having issues a few days ago though, it might be wise to skip the last raw warmup and do a lighter shirted warmup.

size 54 Rage X
2 board press
455x1
495x1

size 52 Rage X
2 boards
565x1 - this felt very good, and I have the doc's green light to push hard now, so I figured why not see what 600 feels like.

605 x 1 - This felt heavy, but the whole time I held it, I felt like I would be able to press it. Form was solid. It didnt move fast, but I definitely have more in me than this. I'm very happy with this.

air boards in size 52
475x3
495x3

Right hip was cramping, so I stopped and did a bunch of rolling on the mini super nova ball. That helped.


TRX rows
15, 13

face pulls
2 sets

When is next meet?

I have a couple of suggestions depending on time to next meet.

June 10

I have some additional thoughts about my bench. An observant teammate noted that on the 605, I showed very good control of the weight. He thought that maybe the air board from the previous week work had something to do with that. Maybe it did. Other possible influences include additional lat work and minimal benching last Thursday, and a much healthier left pec.

My plan next Sunday when I put on my tight shirt is to take 585 off two boards, then something like 615 - 625 if the 585 feels good. Assuming I have something left in the tank after that, I'll do more air board work with the tight shirt. I'm considering doing doubles instead of triples and going a bit heavier because I find myself running out of air after two reps.

What is your shirt max from chest, competition and in training?

There's no easy answer for that question.

Size 54 shirt off chest:
- 523 in meet
- 555 in training. When I hit that, teammates said it looked like I could have gotten 585.
- Missed 551 twice in a meet due to form errors

Size 52 shirt off chest:
- In training, I got 545 to touch and pressed it once when I weighed under 235.
- I've never touched anything and pressed it in a meet in this shirt.
- The last time I tried to touch anything in this shirt in the gym, I weighed ~240. I touched 585, but it was so hard to touch that I had little to no chance of pressing it. Teammates think I need something >600 to touch cleanly.
- About 2 years ago I took 615 to a one board and pressed it in this shirt.
- The 605 to a 2 board I did Sunday was the most I have pressed in this shirt in a very long time. When I did this 605, I had the sleeves turned in and the chest pulled down low. Those things make touching harder.
- The 455 to 495 air boards are getting down to about 1.5 - 2" or so (about 1 board or maybe a little more) from touching at their lowest point.

I will suggest something like this for the next 4 weeks, with 585 lbs as your potential max (You should get better at getting to the chest/stomach during the weeks)

No work in the 54 shirts, all to be done in the 52 shirt.

Week 1:
5(*)x3x512 to airboard, on last rep of last set try to get it all the way down, better to dump it on your stomach than to press it from airboard. Only last rep last set, other set and reps keep good form

5(*) dont have to be 5 set, if you know you are better off doing 3 sets, then do 3.

After the 5x3 do negatives 1-3x1xup to 585, I sometimes try to press the negatives, because not trying to press sucks motivationwise.

Week 2:
5x3x527 airboard, last rep last set, try to touch
1-3x1xup to 614

Week 3:
5x2x541 air, try to touch last set
1-3x1xup to 644

Week 4:
Work up to max weight double
No negatives

Negatives can be substituted with medium to high boards and press, though I think you will get more out of practicing to touch controlled with higher weights.

Also consider safety bars, just in case...

I like the ideas. Hopefully, my body will cooperate. I have doubts whether it will hold up doing that. As I do with everything nowadays, I will have to go by feel somewhat and do what I can without breaking myself.

4/3

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
625x1
685x1
695x1




safety bar squats with chains
325 + 2 chains x 3
325 + 4 chains x 3
325 + 6 chains x 3
325 + 8 chains x 3
375 + 8 chains x 3


side note: My coach benched 855 off two boards last night. It was fast and solid. He weighs about 207 now.

4/5

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3x3
slight pain behind left shoulder blade, so I stopped

push ups - a few sets of 12 or so

light face pulls and cable rows

4/6

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
565x1
615x2 - this was 90% of 685 (training goal). It went way too easy for 90%, so I think I am going to increase my training goal to 705.
635x2




band DLs in briefs
I used 3 plates instead of 4 so I could add more band weight this time.
315 + 350 (red) bands x 3
315 + 480 (red + green) bands x 3. This chewed up my hands, so I used straps for the next two sets.
315 + 550 (red + black) bands x 3. wooooooo!


315 + 680 (red + black + green) bands x 0. I tried twice and could not get it past my knees. That burned me out big time. Maybe next time I will try red + black + something less than green. I love band DLs.

4/8

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 rage x
2 board press
475x1

size 52 rage x
2 board press
565x1 - decent, but it felt heavy
625x0 - I touched too low. It maybe got 1/3 - 1/2 way up.
625x0 - lolnoway. I guess I ran out of gas.

air boards
495x2 - sharp pain in left upper arm. I had to shut down.


sled rows
380 x 15 x 2
470 x 12 , 15

face pulls
2 sets

4/10

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
515x1

suit & wraps
605x1
705xf - Several issues: My suit wasnt tight enough. I racked it poorly. A rookie teammate made me go about 3" below parallel before giving the up command. My hips shot back at the bottom.

I tightened up the suit and tried again.
705x1 - smoked it. I was surprised how easy it was to hit depth with the suit this tight. I guess if I want to squat a lot more than this, I should really have the legs and hips of the suit cranked tight.


briefs only
425x2
515x2

GHR
20
vs black band x 15

4/12

bench
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
245x3
265x3
285x2

Left arm starting to get angry.

push ups
20
+ 2 chains x 20
+ 2 chains x a few, left arm said that's enough


seated cable rows
140x15
180x12
200x12

face pulls

4/13

DL
225x5
315x3
405x2

suit
495x1
585x1
635x2 - this went so fast and easy that I thought pulling 675 the next set would be a good idea.


675xf. I didnt set my back tight enough, so it rounded and I got forward. I dropped it before it got to the knees.

band DLs
315+ 350 lbs bands x 3
315 + 480 lbs bands x 3
315 + 550 lbs bands x 3

4/15

bench press
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
275x2
315x1

size 54 rage X
2 board press
475x1

size 52 rage X
2 board press
565x1
605xf - too slow off the chest. I grinded a while trying to get it locked out and just missed it. That took a lot out of me.

air boards
495x2
525x2

raw
225 + 4 chains x 3
225 + 6 chains x 3
225 + 8 chains x 3


1 arm cable rows
3 sets up to whole stack x 15

face pulls

4/17

squat
155x5
245x5
335x3

briefs
425x2
515x1

suit & knee wraps
635x1
715x1
My left big toe has been bothering me a lot. Walking is the worst. Its actually ok if I am standing on a flat surface, but I can still feel it. It didnt seem to give me problems squatting until I got to 715. At the point, I unracked the bar and it felt like a misload. It wasnt a misload - my body was trying to push the weight to my good side. I reracked it and squatted it. I had a difficult time balancing both front to back and side to side, but I got it. It was a grind. I decided to move on to lighter stuff.

briefs only
425x2

After that, I wrapped a teammate's knees. I strained my left infraspinatus doing so. I figured that back squatting after that might be counterproductive, so I stopped.